Chocolate Turtle Cake

Chocolate, caramel, and pecans are made to be together, and their flavors harmonize perfectly in this stunning chocolate layer cake. Devil's food cake mix with pudding plus chocolate morsels result in brownie-like layers filled and frosted with a jazzed up ready-to-spread fudge frosting. The finishing touches are turtle candies and a drizzling of dulce de leche ice cream topping.

Chocolate, caramel, and pecans are made to be together, and their flavors harmonize perfectly in this stunning chocolate layer cake. Devil's food cake mix with pudding plus chocolate morsels result in brownie-like layers filled and frosted with a jazzed up ready-to-spread fudge frosting. The finishing touches are turtle candies and a drizzling of dulce de leche ice cream topping.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 32 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely. Wrap and chill cake layers at least 1 hour.

Step 4

Whisk together cream cheese frosting and canned dulce de leche in a small bowl until well blended. Set aside. Cut 6 turtle candies in half, and set aside for garnish. Dice remaining turtle candies.

Step 5

Using a serrated knife, slice cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on cake plate. Spread with 1/2 cup cream cheese frosting mixture; sprinkle with one-third diced turtle candies. Repeat procedure twice. Place final cake layer on top of cake, cut side down. Spread chocolate fudge frosting on top and sides of cake. Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Just before serving, drizzle dulce de leche ice cream topping over top of cake. Garnish with remaining halved turtle candies and pecan halves. Store in refrigerator.

Step 6

Chef's Notes

We tested with 2 dulce de leche products: canned and jarred. The canned product is by Nestlé and available in a 14-oz. can. It's quite thick, and when blended with ready-to-spread cream cheese frosting, makes a rich, caramel-flavored filling. Find it in the supermarket with the Mexican ingredients. The jarred dulce de leche ice cream topping is perfect to drizzle over the finished cake. Find it in the supermarket with other ice cream toppings.

Ratings & Reviews

CookieWoman2559's Review

I know i am going to make it like maybe next weekend on Sunday for a church Meal I Love It When We Have Church Lunch It's Always Good Because We Have So Many Good Cooks But One Lady Made a Buttermilk Pie and I Had Never Heard Of It So I have been searching every since and I Can't find it anywhere !! It was Smooth and it had pecans in it kinda like a pecan pie but the texture was very different.. I don't like buttermilk myself as for drinking it but you know there are several kinds of recipes that have it in them So if it's good enough for other kinds of recipes then it would be good enough for a pie !!! It was delicious no kidding!!

lovetherun's Review

This was amazing. One of my guests said it was the best cake she ever had. I did have to make a few changes though. On accident I bought 15.25 oz cake mix, so I added 3 oz more of instant pudding. My batter was verry thick, so I put in a tiny bit more milk and oil. I also didn't have chocolate extract, but it tasted fine without it. Overall, you won't be sorry you made this cake!

2hoops's Review

Iam going to make this cake this week and I was wondering if you really need the chocolate extract. With all the other ingredients in it would that be missed? I just hate to buy a bottle if I don't have to. TIA

taoism's Review

scush21428's Review

I made this cake for a gathering for two brithday's..it was met with ooohs and aaaahs... there was another store bought cake...and I believe it was two to one servings...hands down the better cake!.....It is great!..even tho' it was a bit of a pain to make and put together...well worth the praise!

cmadden3's Review

What a great cake! Delicious and moist. Looked just like the picture. This cake has a rich chocolate flavor and a different texture with each bite due to the chocolate chips and pecans in the batter and the candies between the layers. When I read the recipe, I thought that it would have too many flavors going on but not at all. I wouldn't change a thing.

heartinsa's Review

The only thing I do different when I make this is leave the chocolate chips out of the cake as my family doesn't like "things" in their cakes like that. I have made it several times and have gotten rave reviews at work, church and home! Very rich but soooo good!

Lindsey79's Review

I made this cake for Christmas. It was simple to put together and it was a hit with everyone, including all of the little ones. I followed the directions and purchased 14 oz of the turtle candies, but only ended up using one box (or 7oz). If you are planning to drizzle de leche on top of the cake I would recommend buying two cans. I was able to find Nestles caned de leche in the Mexican section of my local supermarket.

laceyhawkins's Review

I wanted to make this recipe in hopes it would be similiar to my husband's turtle groom's cake at our wedding. The cake was wonderful! Very rich! My only mishap was when the 12oz of ice cream topping overflowed to my cake carrier and my (garnish) turtles were sliding off! I am making this cake for Christmas as well-i will only use 1/2 of the topping!! Overall 5 stars!!